Watch the spectacular Ultimate Tennis Showdown on the final day live, exclusively on this site

It started in times of corona, when international sport came to a standstill worldwide. But initiator Patrick Mouratoglou, former coach of Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Stefanos Tsitsipas, among others, thought the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) was too good an event to be buried again after the pandemic.

Watch Friday's highlights here

Watch Saturday's highlights here

The first event of 2024 will take place in Oslo from Friday. Eight players provide three days of action. But what is so unique about the UTS format? A lot. The job is the same, other than that almost everything is different. To begin with, the game is not played for games and sets, but on time: there are four quarters of eight minutes. The count is like in a tiebreak, so 1-1 and 2-2 instead of 15-15 and 30-30. Whoever wins three quarters is the winner, if 2-2 a 'sudden death' follows: the player who is the first to score two points in a row wins.

It all goes a lot faster than 'normal' tennis. There is no warm-up, the players enter the court and start. The shot clock between the points is 15 instead of 25 seconds. There is only one serve and if it hits the net band, no let is played. Players serve twice, alternately. After eight minutes it is not over yet, the player who is behind still has the chance to catch up, but the player who is ahead only needs to finish one point to finally decide the quarter. In addition, there are 'bonus cards', with which players can, for example, 'take away' the opponent's serve or play for three points instead of one.

The fan experience is central. For example, players and their coaches, who sit on the bench, wear a microphone and their communication can be heard. Tennis players are also allowed to talk to each other, and they are interviewed between quarters. There is no code of conduct, breaking a racket does not immediately result in a warning for the perpetrator.

Group matches are played on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday there are two semi-finals, followed by the final. The eight players participating in Oslo are: Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, Alexander Boeblik, Dominic Thiem, Andrej Roeblev, Alex de Minaur, Gaël Monfils and Benoit Paire. Most will then travel to Rotterdam for the ABN Amro Open.

The goal of the UTS is not to compete with the ATP, which organizes all regular tournaments. Mouratoglou does want to offer something extra. You cannot earn ranking points, but you can earn dollars. The total prize money in Oslo is more than 1.5 million euros. The player who wins the tournament undefeated will go home with just under 400,000 euros.

Results Friday:
Alexander Boeblik – Dominic Thiem 3-1
Andrei Rublev – Benoit Paire 3-0
Alex de Minaur – Gaël Monfils 3-0
Holger Rune – Casper Ruud 1-3
Lucas Pouille (replaces Monfils after penalty) – Benoit Paire 2-3 (after sudden death)
Holger Rune – Dominic Thiem 3-2 (after sudden death)

Results Saturday:
Andrei Rublev – Alex de Minaur 3-1
Casper Ruud – Alexander Boeblik 3-2 (after sudden death)
Alex de Minaur – Benoit Paire 3-2 (after sudden death)
Casper Ruud – Nicolai Budkov Kjaer 3-0
Andrei Rublev – Lucas Pouille 3-0

Sunday, from 12.30 pm:
Semi-finals and finals